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What is Svengali?

Her nostalgic collage of Americana images reflects a kind of innocence that is the basis of Del Rey's image as a "good girl," or, rather, a good girl flirting hard with being bad.—doesn’t make since to me, what does this mean?






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Take Lana Del Rey, T Style’s most recent cover subject, who also became famous in about a minute. Is her ascent a sign that we’re more impressed by hype than talent? Or are media innovations helping to hype deserving but unknown artists?

More than any single factor, Lana Del Rey's ascent has been determined by her own guile and ambition. Though few people want to credit her with being more than a blank canvas, Del Rey is her own svengali. Her early, self-made videos are integral to blogs and music fans understanding what her work is about.

Her ability to translate her music for the (computer) screen helped pave the way for her album's success. "Born to Die" made its debut at No. 2 on the iTunes Album Sales Chart, which is to say that her music is what is compelling people.

While the speculation and (sexist) debate around Del Rey and just how she rose to fame is certainly keeping her in the public eye, her album sales testify that her music is actually connecting with music fans.

Any marginally savvy musician, whether she aspires for basement fame or the Grammy stage, knows that harnessing the power of the Web, either as a YouTube phenom or by amassing an army of Twitter-Facebook fans, is fundamental to having a career.

As the music industry continues to crumble, this is really the only certainty left: if you can conquer the Internet, you can have it all.